Welcome to one of the most powerful opportunities in app development:  Low-code.

The low-code movement is gaining momentum because it addresses one of the greatest modern business challenges:  Efficiently responding to customer need.  

What would you do if you could literally bring new ideas to life for applications - in a matter of days or weeks rather than months or years?  Go ahead.  Take a moment and think. We'll wait.

Yes, we too have lots of ideas. Most businesses do.

A new approach is needed

That is how Flowfactory got into the business of providing a low-code application in the first place. We were working on software development planning for a multi-national enterprise, and quickly realized that the business - and our customers -  had many more needs than the IT department could possible respond to.  We needed a new approach - not just literally to the way that we were writing code, but in the ways that we were collaborating with our colleagues around the business.

We expect that your business can benefit from these opportunities as well:

• Faster time to market for business applications, even at enterprise scale.  Being responsive to customers - internal teams included - is always a good thing.
• More inclusive design and development, where business leads can quickly see their ideas come to life, and, as these ideas take shape, learn from software architects and designers where any vulnerabilities exist. Frankly, we've found that compromises (on both sides) to better the end product are so much easier to make when everyone feels ownership from the beginning.
• Complete alignment with agile development methodologies, with added acceleration of delivery within each sprint.
• Scale the development team, without adding any new people.  Citizen developers can now take on some of the development work previously assigned to more experienced IT professionals - who are then free to tackle more complex work. 

1. What is low-code?

A low-code platform empowers an easier and faster process of creating business applications. Creating application on a low-code platform minimizes the need for hand-coding every step, and even offers non-coders a drag-and-drop interface for configuation.  You'll save development costs, speed up the process of getting applications up and running, and be free from much of the challenge of finding specialized coders to do every project. 

2. Why is low-code amazing?

Simply:  Speed.  In fact, you'll gain two types of speed.  First, more effective resource allocation, and second, faster time to market launch.  Your senior architects and developers can focus on strategy, large projects and complex integrations.  Less experienced IT teams can quickly build and launch applications to a set of internal standards and quality, without as much day-to-day supervision. Plus, you can expand your team by training "citizen developers" from the business teams to work on their own ideas and projects.

All this accelerates the time it takes to develop, let's you expand your list of deliverables every quarter, and gives you flexibility to be responsive to customers as market forces and competitive pressures dictate.   

3. Will it work for enterprise?

Yes. Our clients are using Flowfactory-built applications for enterprise grade systems, which are fully integrated across databases and envolve large amounts of users.  When we say, "think big," we mean it!

4. What about forward compatitbility and APM?

Good question!  Using a low-code platform has benefits beyond the launch of each individual app. The platform creates a consistent data layer that sits on top of your legacy systems - usually an ERP, CRM, or other database.   We call this the "Competitive Layer" because it gives the IT department a uniform way to conceive, quickly launch and easily manage applications, no matter where they sit in the organization.  Maintenance is more streamlined, as is any upgrade or re-scoping for data management.  The platform itself does not tie you to any particular system or database, and that gives you the kind of flexibility you need to be truly agile and market-responsive. Although we'd hate it, if you leave us you can take your data with you.